Run For Your Life
by thelasttimelady101
Summary: Nine/Rose. Zombie Apocalypse AU.


**AN: This is a oneshot for now but I might expand it after I finish my other story because I have a few ideas for it.**

"Tony, please, I know you're scared, but you have to be quiet," Rose whispered, pleading for him to stop crying. "Please, Tony, I don't want them to hear us."

Tony sniffled and Rose wiped a few tears from his cheeks. "Rose, I'm scared."

"I know, love, me too," Rose said, clutching the young boy tighter.

Rose wasn't sure how they were going to get out of this. It had been a week since everyone starting changing Becoming more deadly and dangerous. They had already infected so many and Rose knew that it wasn't just Leadworth that was affected.

When the radios were still running, the broadcasters were skeptical, reluctant to say the phrase, but everyone knew. It was a zombie apocalypse.

By the time Leadworth was ravaged by the former people she knew, that had quickly turned into monsters when bitten. Rose was really regretting having her little brother Tony stay over at her home. He should be with her parents. Safe at the base of Torchwood, where her father, Pete, was the director. He shouldn't have to see this. But he did.

Luckily for them, Rose's home was pretty far from the downtown area of Leadworth. But just yesterday, the disease had spread to her neighborhood. Rose had covered up all the windows in her house, but not before Tony had seen them. Their eyes were cold and blank; clothes tattered and smeared with blood. Poor Tony was so terrified. Rose and her neighbors, the Ponds, had learned early on that it was noise that attracted them. So they had kept quiet. But the zombies still didn't leave. Instead, they wandered aimlessly at the streets waiting to hear their next victims.

"Rose, I don't want to leave. They'll get us!" Tony whimpered.

"Sweetheart, we have to. We're running out of food, and once we get to mum and dad we'll be safe," Rose persuaded her little brother. She tried to put on a brave face for her seven year old brother, but she was still terrified. The plan she told her brother seemed simple. Go out the back of her home, into the densely wooded area, where the zombies would be least likely to hear them. From there, they would head to the highway, where hopefully Rose could find a car to hotwire and they could go to London. Once they were in London, they would be safe. Torchwood would pick them up the moment they reached the city limit. But Rose knew it would never be easy.

So she planned to meet her sometimes boyfriend, Adam, and with Tony they would head to London. It was almost the time they agreed to meet and Rose didn't want to leave Adam in danger for longer than necessary.

Rose picked up her rather heavy backpack, stocked with the rest of the food in her house, flashlights and other necessary items for her and her brother. She they reached out to grab her little brother's hand.

"Tony, are you ready?" Rose asked, even though she was far from ready herself.

"No!" Tony cried, fresh tears falling from his face.

"Listen to me, Tony. It's gonna be just like the games we used to play, yeah? Remember when we used to hide from dad? We had to be quiet and sneaky, and that's what we have to do now," Rose told her brother.

Tony sniffled, but nodded and grasped Rose's hand tighter.

Rose winced at the sound the door made when she unlocked and opened it. She knew she should have fixed the creaking of the door sooner. But there was no going back now. If the zombies heard it, they would be on their way and the only option for them would be to move.

Rose picked up Tony and moved quickly to the outskirts of her backyard. She carefully made her way around the wire fence she had meant to get fixed, but didn't have the time to do so. After all, before this, she was a full time university ignored the stinging in her arms and legs as the wires cut her, but she didn't hear anything from Tony and assumed he wasn't getting hurt.

Once they were past the fence, Rose swiftly moved through the trees, heading behind the houses until she was behind Adam's. He was already there. With a gun.

"What is that?" Rose whispered, shocked that he owned the large rifle in his arms.

"Rose, we have to have something to protect ourselves," Adam whispered back, rolling his eyes a little, as if the reason was obvious.

Rose glared at him. Sure he was a genius, but that didn't give him the right to be a git. She couldn't help any chance she got to knock him down a peg or two. "Are you daft? That's gonna attract loads more of those zombies.

Adam scoffed. "Zombies? Really Rose? You believe that zombies actually exist. Come on, babe, there has to be some explanation besides zombies."

Rose rolled her eyes but didn't fight back. It was no use; Adam always thought he was right. "Whatever. Let's just go."

The three of them made their way through the wooded area, trying not to trip over the large roots of the trees.

But Adam didn't notice one of the roots and tripped. As he started to fall, he let out a loud string of profanities.

"Shut up, Adam!" Rose whispered harshly. But the damage was done. She could hear rustling in the trees

and knew it wasn't an animal.

She turned toward the source and saw a zombie come towards her and Tony. Her eyes widened and she looked around for a branch, or something she could use to fend it off.

But Adam beat her too it. He grabbed the shotgun and shot the zombie several cracks of the gun echoed through the trees and Rose cringed at the sound.

"Adam, we have to go. Now!" Rose panicked.

They ran through the woods, stumbling over branches and roots. But they could hear the zombies coming after them. Rose gasped as she saw some zombies coming towards them off to the side. They were close. Really, of them grabbed Adam. Rose tucked Tony's head into her chest, trying to protect him from the awful sounds.

Rose took the chance to hide behind a large tree, as the zombies were occupied momentarily by what was left of her boyfriend. She grabbed a large branch and prepared to fight the zombies to hopefully give her brother some time to get away. Because she doubted she was going to survive this. This was bad. Really bad. Tony was shaking against her and she would be lying if she said she wasn't quivering in fear a little bit too. She put him down and told him to get ready to run away.

Rose could hear the sounds of the zombies dying down, and she knew they would be looking for her and Tony next. She tensed, preparing for them to find her and her brother.

So she was shocked when a large hand grasped hers. She turned towards the hand and her eyes met a pair of icy blue ones. The man tugged impatiently at her hand and picked up her little brother. Then he uttered one word. "Run."

Rose didn't even hesitate to listen to him. With her hand still folded tightly in his, Rose followed him through the forest, running faster than she thought was possible. Eventually, she started slowing down, growing tired, but the man insistently pulled at her hand, urging her on. When it felt like they had been running for hours, the man stopped suddenly and she crashed into his back, startled by his sudden pause.

Rose looked up and saw why he had stopped. They were in a large clearing. In the center of the area was a small house and a small garage right next to it.

"Come on," the man said, tugging her forward. He put Tony down and reached into his pocket pulling out a key. He opened the door and held his hand out, gesturing her to step in first. Rose paused, not sure if she trusted this man enough to be in enclosed space with him.

He seemed to sense her hesitation and sighed. "Look, if I wanted you dead or to harm you, I would have left you out there. But I didn't. I saved you and your son's lives."

"He's my brother," Rose blurted out before she could stop herself. He probably didn't want to know, or care.

He nodded and Rose stepped through the door, into the house. As she stepped in she realized it wasn't so much a house as a cottage. She looked at the man who saved her. He was wearing a battered leather jacket with a gruff expression on his face. She giggled slightly at the thought of a man like him living in a cottage.

"What?" He questioned.

"Nothing," Rose replied quickly, flushing slightly.

"So, do you want to sit down for a bit?" The man asked, shifting uncomfortably after a few moments of silence.

"Sure."

He led them to the kitchen and motioned for her and Tony to sit in the chairs next to the small table. He sat down too, and looked at the pair of them.

"Who are you?" Rose asked, still unsure of whether she could trust the man sitting across from her.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Just the Doctor?" Rose asked, giving him a confused look.

"The rest is unimportant," the Doctor dismissed. "The real question is why you were daft enough to go shooting at a zombie when they are attracted to sound. You made you and your brother an easy target."

"It wasn't me who fired the gun!" Rose said defensively. "It was Adam."

Rose closed her eyes at the thought of Adam. She felt like she could still hear the sounds of the zombies killing him.

"That was the man they had already gotten to when I saved you?"

"Yeah."

"So your boyfriend was the daft one then," the Doctor said simply. When Rose didn't respond he continued to speak. "Listen, lady-"

"Rose," she interrupted. "I'm Rose and that's Tony."

"Last name?" The Doctor questioned.

"That's not important," Rose shot back, throwing back the words he'd said to her earlier.

He smiled. "You learn fast."

Rose couldn't help but smile back at him.

"So, Rose, what were you and Tony doing in the middle of the woods in the midst of a zombie apocalypse," the Doctor asked bluntly.

"We need to get to London. That's where our parents are."

The Doctor scoffed. "London? That's the first place that was infected. Your parents are long dead."

Rose's eyes flashed with anger once she saw the panicked look in Tony's eyes. "Don't say that around him! My parents are safe. My dad owns a large company there that specializes in researching unordinary circumstances and he and my mum are safe there. Once we get into the city, they'll pick us up and take us there."

"And how are you gonna get to London?" The Doctor asked skeptically.

"That's what we were trying to do before you took us here."

"You were gonna walk to London?" The Doctor questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I was gonna find a car to hotwire," Rose said, angered that he seemed amused by her plan.

"Rose, you're not gonna last five miles, much less the journey to London," The Doctor said.

"Well what else can I do but try? Am I supposed to just stay in home until I run out of food like you are?" Rose shot back, becoming a angrier with him.

"Rose, how old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"Nineteen, huh," The Doctor mused. "So you're telling me that you know how to hike through the woods, hotwire a car, and travel to London, all while avoiding the zombies and taking care of your little brother."

"Yes, Doctor, that's exactly what I'm gonna do. There's no other option," Rose snapped.

"Maybe there is."

"Really? Why don't you enlighten me, Doctor? Because it seems like you think you know everything," Rose said.

"I'll take you and Tony to London."

Rose stared at him in shock.

She was not expecting him to help her anymore than he had. "Why? Why would you help me?" Rose asked suspiciously.

"Because you're right," he said simply. At her confused glance he sighed. "I can't just stay here and wait for my food supply, but I have no place to go. You have no car, but have a place to go. I have a car, but nowhere to go."

Rose couldn't argue with his logic. But that didn't mean she was just going to trust a complete stranger. Even if he was a complete stranger who saved her and her brother's life, risking his own. "Fine. Take me to London and I'll make sure that my parents give you a place to stay there."

The Doctor smiled. "Deal."

Rose returned his grin with a smile of her own, her tongue poking out between her teeth. But she knew she still had to be careful around him. This could either be the best decision or the worst decision of her life to trust the Doctor. But she had a feeling she wasn't going to regret this.


End file.
